Texas County Memorial Hospital is accepting applications for its 2018-’19 Youth Ambassador program. It is open to area high school juniors and seniors as well as area college students.
Students who participate in the program volunteer their time at TCMH in varying departments to gain experience and understanding of hospital operations. Youth Ambassadors are required to go through an orientation and must commit to volunteering four hours each month, on average.
They get at least some experience in most of the participating departments their first year. Those in the second year have two more departments that are open to them to volunteer in. The participating departments currently include registration, dietary, housekeeping, emergency department, obstetrics, medical records, administration, radiology and medical surgical.
A total of 215 Youth Ambassadors have volunteered approximately 9,000 hours at the hospital since the program began in December 2009. Last year, students volunteered 1,260 hours.
“The Youth Ambassador program is continually growing,” said Renina Pearce, volunteer services coordinator. “In the 2017-’18 school year, we had several more hospital departments participating in the program than in years past, and we are hoping to expand that even more this year.”
Pearce said the program allows students who think they might want to go into a healthcare field to gain experience before leaving home to pursue a degree and/or training in a particular field.
“The program really opens their eyes and expands their thoughts about what they could do in healthcare,” Pearce said. “We have had Youth Ambassadors who have discovered new areas of healthcare that they never knew existed previously, sometimes altering their previously chosen career path.”
Former Youth Ambassadors currently have jobs working various hospital departments at TCMH. Additionally, Youth Ambassadors are eligible for educational scholarships from TCMH.
“I’m a big believer in growing your own,” said Wes Murray, TCMH chief executive officer said. “This program helps train and groom students in our community to work in healthcare, and hopefully return to Texas County when they finish school.”
Kim Herndon, a medical surgical floor nurse aide, Brenda Barton, a medical records clerk, and Kory Loden, the public relations, marketing and physician recruiting assistant, all help Pearce with the operations of the Youth Ambassador’s program.
Pearce said she tries to make the Youth Ambassadors program fun and wants the students to feel welcome in the hospital. The Youth Ambassadors have their own closet that serves as the main hub for all their communication with each other and with the TCMH staff that help with the program.
During this school year, the Youth Ambassadors committee members hope to involve more departments and plan a 5K run/walk in the spring to end their year. New this year, the Youth Ambassador program will include mentors. Second year Youth Ambassadors will be mentors to the first-year participants to help them acclimate to the hospital and program in general.
For additional information or to apply, contact your high school counselor or Pearce at 417-967-1236 or administration@tcmh.org. The application deadline is Aug. 31.